Some people think that as more and more people have television in their homes; fewer and fewer people will buy books and newspapers. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read a novel, when a play on television can tell you some story with colour, picture and action?
   Why read the biographies of famous men and women, when an hour-long television programs can tell you all that you want to know?
   Television has not killed reading, however. Today, newspapers and magazines sell in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. Books are still a cheap way to get information and entertainment. Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books published today as paperback books, which are reasonably cheap. A paperback novel, for example, is almost always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or theatre, and you keep a book forever and read it many times.
   Books in the home are a wonderful source of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home. Every home should have a good dictionary. Every home should have an atlas of the world, with large clear maps. It might be expensive, but a good encyclopedia is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. In addition, it is useful to have on your bookshelves other non-fiction books such as history books, science textbooks, cookery books, books about medicine and health, etc. It is equally important to have some fiction on your shelves, too. Then you can relax with a good story, or from time to time you can take a book of poems of your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your fovourite poems.